


Reclaim your crown

by ScriptaManent



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Attempt at Humor, Daichi is confused, Fluff, Iwaizumi deserves some rest, M/M, Oikawa needs a hug, i just love this fic a lot, this was supposed to be a Rapunzel AU and ended up being some kind of Shrek-inspired fairy tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScriptaManent/pseuds/ScriptaManent
Summary: “Once upon a time there was a handsome prince, who was loved by his family and subjects alike. He was destined to rule, and everybody was looking forward to the day of his coronation.But one day, the prince was kidnapped and locked away in the highest room of the tallest tower in a castle guarded by an evil presence in the shape of a dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free him from his dreadful prison, but in four years, none prevailed.”Daichi adjusted the sword at his side, a lump in his throat, and pushed the door of the inn. His name was on the contract; he would be the next one to try his luck.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30
Collections: Oikawa Exchange Winter 2020





	Reclaim your crown

**Author's Note:**

  * For [penstrikesmidnight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/penstrikesmidnight/gifts).



> Thank you Jordan for giving me the opportunity to write this, it was so much fun!  
> (And also thank you @foxsmoulder for your beta skills, you're the best and I love you so much)

_“Once upon a time there was a handsome prince, who was loved by his family and subjects alike. He was destined to rule, and everybody was looking forward to the day of his coronation._

_But one day, the prince was kidnapped and locked away in the highest room of the tallest tower in a castle guarded by an evil presence in the shape of a dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free him from his dreadful prison, but in four years, none prevailed.”_

_Daichi adjusted the sword at his side, a lump in his throat, and pushed the door of the inn. His name was on the contract; he would be the next one to try his luck._

* * *

Daichi had been told that the dragon had retired years ago, leaving the fortress unattended. He had also been warned that he would have to climb the stairs up to the highest room in the tallest tower. What he hadn’t expected, however, was that it would be as easy as following the screams.

He stopped in front of the massive door at the top of the stairs to catch his breath and checked the paper with the location one more time. Yeah, no doubt, he was in the right place.

“Iwa-chan, can you stop stealing all the blankets for once?!”

“Get your own bed, Shittykawa!”

The knight hesitated, contemplating the many, many stairs that he had spent hours climbing and that now separated him from the exit. He hadn’t come all the way from his little village for nothing, right?

Gathering all his bravery, Daichi knocked on the door, his soaked armour creaking with every move — maybe he should have thought about fixing it before coming all the way up, but now it was too late.

Everything suddenly went quiet on the other side. It took several long seconds for the voices to rise again, and this time they were but barely whispers.

“Do you think they’ve gone?”

“It’s your turn to check, Oikawa, I opened the door last time and nearly got roasted!”

“That’s what you get for looking like an ogre, Iwa-chan,” the second voice lilted.

A loud noise followed and Daichi cringed. Whatever had happened, he could only imagine it had been painful.

Just in case, he curled his fingers around the handle of his sword and took a step back in a defensive stance. The door opened slowly, casting a single ray of light upon the old wood of the porch, and brown hair poked out of the interstice.

“Password?” the man behind the door said.

Daichi was so taken aback by the question that he nearly dropped his weapon.

“Um? Nobody told me there was a password,” he stuttered, already picturing himself climbing back down the stairs that led to the highest room of the tallest tower and walking all the way back to that shady inn just to get a stupid password. And of course his horse had already fled at the old dragon scent.

There were days he wondered why he had agreed to being a knight. The poor guy was _tired_.

In front of him, the door was pushed fully against the wall and a man leant nonchalantly in the doorframe, grinning at Daichi like he was the knight supposed to free Daichi, and not the contrary. He had that natural confidence and all the charisma expected of a noble. The light of the setting sun framed his silhouette like a cape, and for a short second, Daichi saw before him the prince he had been sent to deliver from an evil presence. Where the evil presence was still remained to be found.

“Alright, I’ll let you in,” the prince conceded, and in the background a groan rose from the bed and another man pulled the blanket over his head. “They usually panic and try to come up with a password. At least you look honest! What’s your name?”

Daichi blinked a few times in confusion. What was going on in there? He had bargained with sphinxes that had made more sense. Why were there two people in that room? What had happened to the dragon? Had it really retired? Had it had a burnout? Where was that evil presence he was supposed to defeat?

“Sawamura… Daichi,” he answered absentmindedly, his thoughts fighting in his head.

In front of him, the man grinned wider, a mocking glimmer lighting up his eyes.

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“Yeah... I mean, no. Wait, who are you exactly?” he ended up asking, a frown that was hidden by his helmet settling on his face. “I’m supposed to take Prince Oikawa Tooru back to the castle at the edge of the horizon… Can someone tell me what’s going on?”

Another weary grunt came from the bed and the second man kicked the blanket away and jumped to his feet.

“’kay, I’m gonna make some tea,” he sighed, running a hand through messy hair. “Oikawa, don’t leave him on the doorstep, he walked all the way here.”

Then, he stopped in his tracks and stared straight into Daichi’s eyes.

“Sawamura, right? Sorry in advance,” he declared, and resumed making tea.

Ignoring the other, Oikawa stepped away and motioned for Daichi to come in. The knight took his helmet off under the appreciative stare of the prince and stepped into the room with the awful feeling that he had somehow been dragged into a harder quest than the one he had signed up for.

* * *

It turned out that that evil presence mentioned in the folk tales wasn’t an evil presence, after all. His name was Iwaizumi Hajime, a perfectly normal human and the prince’s best-friend-slash-guard that had somehow been dragged into this mess.

So as it turned out, the absence of the prince at his rightful place in the castle wasn’t Iwaizumi’s doing. It came from Oikawa himself, the stubborn prince who refused to leave the tower. And yes, Iwaizumi told Daichi, indeed, Oikawa was the reason why the dragon had retired. The poor creature had a family to take care of, and he hadn’t been able to see them years because of the prince.

Daichi was beginning to understand why Iwaizumi had apologized like he was presenting his condolences. The two of them exchanged a tired look over the table as Oikawa balanced himself on the back legs of his stool to examine his nails like this was none of his business.

“Oikawa, you’ve been staying here in isolation for four years, it’s about time you get out,” Iwaizumi sighed wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose as if they had gone through this conversation too many times already. “It’s about time _we_ get out.”

Oikawa stopped swinging on his stool and a dry noise echoed on the walls as it hit the floor in its original position. Without missing a beat, the prince stormed out of the room, but Daichi didn’t miss the pained expression that twisted his face when he turned his back on them.

In front of the knight, Iwaizumi blew a long sigh from his nose.

“Sorry about this. I’ll talk to him,” he said, a sad light in his eyes. “There’s water over there, and probably fresh clothes. They might be a bit tight but make yourself comfortable.”

Iwaizumi got up to follow the Prince and stopped suddenly at the door, his hand resting on the handle.

“I know you’re only doing your job,” he began as he pulled the door open, considering for a moment. “But you are the first one he’s let in in a long time. Hopefully that means something.”

And just like that, Iwaizumi left the room, leaving Daichi with his own thoughts for all company.

* * *

“I’m so sick of you acting like a spoiled child every single day! Do you think I wouldn’t like having a life of my own, too? And instead I’m stuck here with a selfish coward! No, shut up! Just... Shut up. I don’t want to hear another word from you.”

Sitting against a wall, Daichi only realised he had fallen asleep when he was woken up by shouts coming from outside the door. He blinked confusedly, trying to remember where he was and why he was there. A door slammed open beside him, startling him. It rebounded against the wall and closed itself once more.

Iwaizumi crossed the room, averting his gaze until he took the stairs down, but Daichi was pretty sure he hadn’t imagined the tears of anger he had seen on his face.

The knight considered the two doors — the one that led to the exit and the one that led to the balcony —, wondering what was the best thing to do and whether it would do any good for him to meddle with issues that weren’t his, but Daichi’s heart was made of soft gold, and so he stood up and opened the door to the balcony.

The night was fresh for the middle of spring, and the man shivered in his borrowed clothes. He closed the door carefully behind him and looked around. At his feet, the forest spread as far as the eye could see, each tree a dark arrow pointing its head to the sky. He spotted the faint lights of a village far away on the horizon, dancing like fireflies.

Oikawa stood not far from him, leaning on the thick stone of the safeguard, his face resolutely fixed on the landscape that spread before him. It could have been his kingdom, had he deigned to go home.

“What are you here for?” the prince asked.

His voice would probably have been dry, if not for the miserable tone it had. His fingers clenched around the railing and Daichi settled beside him.

“I just thought you could use some company.”

Oikawa flicked him a gauging glance, then he shrugged and resumed looking away. Far below them, the door of the tower opened and Iwaizumi’s tiny shadow escaped into the woods. The prince watched until he had disappeared and let out a sigh.

“He’s gonna go there,” he said in a low voice, pointing at a place Daichi couldn’t really make out in the dark. “There’s a cavern behind a waterfall. I know because I followed him, once. He always goes there when he’s upset.”

There was a short pause before Oikawa added: “Most of the time, it’s because of me.”

A sad smile stretched across his lips and Daichi fought the urge to ask him what had happened. Somehow he had the feeling that Oikawa wasn’t done talking, that there were so many things that he still needed to say out loud. If they really had been there for four years, how many times had Oikawa had the opportunity to speak to someone who wasn’t Iwaizumi?

“You know,” the prince continued, as expected. “I know he’s right. And I know I’m being unfair, too. I’ve already asked too much of him.”

“Then why do you refuse to go home?”

Daichi spoke softly, his voice as caressing as a whisper, but it didn’t stop Oikawa from backing away. He straightened up and turned his face away from the knight so the other couldn’t see his expression. His hands remained still on the safeguard, as if the prince required support to stop him from collapsing.

“Imagine growing up in a place where people keep looking at you like you’re the most marvelous thing ever. Like everything you will ever do is guaranteed to be a success. Imagine seeing stars in your father’s eyes every time he tells you how proud he is of you and _how great of a ruler you will be_. Everybody was looking up to me — my sister, my father, the whole kingdom. Everybody but Iwa-chan. He was the only thing keeping me grounded… And the only one to see that I was… that I was scared.”

He swallowed with difficulty, his shoulders slowly tensing, as if a weight too heavy for him to carry was progressively added upon them.

“Everybody’s expecting me to be a great king, to have my whole life sorted out,” he continued, the mask of confidence he had been sporting when Daichi had first seen him shattered on the ground below. His breath accelerated with every word.

He turned back toward the knight, his moonlit features painted with panic and pain.

“What if they’re all wrong? I don’t… I don’t feel ready to rule a whole kingdom!” he cried out, his voice breaking at the end.

Daichi reached out just in time before Oikawa collapsed to the floor as his knees gave out, panting and shaking. He helped the prince sit against the cold wall and ordered him to take deep breaths, forcing him to focus on concrete things. He was so pale that Daichi found himself looking down at the ground, half-expecting Iwaizumi to appear out of nowhere and give him some advice, but the guard was gone and he had no idea what was happening.

Daichi kept his hand on Oikawa’s shoulder, steadying him until Oikawa had calmed down.

“Heh, so much for the future great ruler of Blue Castle,” the prince chuckled mirthlessly, his eyes shut tight.

“Is that why you ran away? Because you thought you weren’t fit for the role?”

Another sad smile and Oikawa tilted his head to let it rest against Daichi’s hand. He reached up to brush the knight’s wrist, his eyelids still closed, tracing lines on Daichi’s skin that made a cloud of butterflies take flight in the knight’s stomach.

“I thought the story said I had been kidnapped four years ago,” Oikawa said, and he was right, it did. It was even written on the quest contract Daichi had signed.

“I may be just a knight, but I’m not stupid,” the latter replied softly.

Daichi could no longer take his eyes off him. The duality between the charismatic prince and the scared kid beneath the surface fascinated him; it made him want to swear to protect him and help him step up — but that was a silly idea that Daichi pushed to the back of his mind. A real knight, even a lone one, couldn’t possibly swear allegiance to a prince he had only met hours ago, especially to a prince without a kingdom. And still…

“You’re right, though. I ran away,” Oikawa admitted after another long silence. He still hadn’t let go of Daichi’s hand. “I was scared, so I made up that whole kidnapping story and hired a dragon and I dragged my best friend along as I fled. In hindsight I should have left Iwa-chan at the castle,” he continued, his jaws clenching as he swallowed back tears. “I robbed him of his own life and I was selfish. And I’m still selfish, because I’m so scared of losing him and so scared of going back.”

“Then maybe it’s time to set things right.”

Oikawa jumped slightly, his eyebrows twitching and his face twisting into a pained expression that slowly turned into resignation. He opened his eyes to look at Daichi, at that knight who had come all the way from he didn’t know where just to bring him back. Maybe he owed it to him as well. Iwaizumi was right, he had been hiding away for four years, and even another ten years would do nothing to help the situation. If only, it would probably make it worse.

“I know nothing about what it takes to rule a kingdom, but what I’m sure of is that you can count on Iwaizumi to help you once you’re there. If he’s stayed four years here alone with you, I am sure he won’t let you down when you need him the most.” Daichi assured, an honest grin on his face that made his eyes shine and made Oikawa want to believe him.

The prince allowed a smile, more genuine this time, to settle on his face.

“I’ve always thought he’d make a great royal advisor.”

He exhaled slowly, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he was finally free to breathe again.

“We should go back inside, it’s getting cold,” Daichi declared after a moment.

He let go of Oikawa’s shoulder to get back to his feet and only then did Oikawa realize that he had still been holding onto the knight’s wrist. He released him, placing his hand sagely on his lap, and did his best to ignore the heat creeping up his cheeks.

Daichi helped him to his feet and led the way. He froze briefly when he noticed a silhouette beside them, and Oikawa’s heart sank in his chest when he realised that Iwaizumi had been waiting for him. How much of the conversation he had heard?

The knight retreated inside the tower, leaving the two best friends to sort things out, and Oikawa swallowed audibly under Iwaizumi’s unwavering gaze.

“Listen, I’m sor—”

“I would have followed you,” Iwaizumi cut him off, leaving the prince staring with a puzzled expression. “Even if you had left me behind at the castle. I would have gone after you.”

Oikawa clenched his jaw and lowered his head as he passed in front of the other. He brushed Iwaizumi’s arm on his way in a silent thank you, wondering what he had ever done to deserve a best friend like him.

* * *

The next day, the three of them left the tower for good.

“Make it quick, before I change my mind,” Oikawa whined, holding onto Iwaizumi’s arm like stepping out was the most difficult thing he had ever done in his life — and maybe it was, Daichi mused when the guard didn’t reply.

Making it quick was out of the question, though. It had taken Daichi four days to travel from the inn where he had signed his contract to rescue the prince, and he had had a horse at the time. Now that they had to walk all the way back to Blue Castle, he wasn’t sure how long they were going to spend on the road, but he estimated it to be three weeks at least.

After a look exchanged with Iwaizumi, he chose to keep that information to himself.

Days and nights followed each other, and the three companions took it upon themselves for the journey to go smoothly. Iwaizumi bit back some sharp replies, Oikawa did his best to keep his rising fear in check, and Daichi… well, Daichi was keeping the group on the right path and moving, so that was already an achievement.

There were moments when the atmosphere became tense, however, and these moments became more and more common when the tower totally disappeared from the horizon behind them several days after their departure.

On the bare ground, lost in thought and with his arms around his knees, Oikawa poked at the fire with a twig. Iwaizumi had disappeared into the forest to gather more wood, leaving only Daichi to keep the prince under watch.

The knight took one last look around in the fading light to make sure that no other fire could be spotted, then he sat next to Oikawa who raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.

“Iwa-chan asked you to make sure I didn’t run away, didn’t he?”

Daichi cracked a smile. “Can you blame him, though? You look like you’d snap if a young rabbit rushed by.”

Oikawa’s brows furrowed immediately and he turned toward Daichi with a pout.

“You were way nicer when he had just met. What happened to the Sawamura who sat with me on the balcony? He wouldn’t have made fun of me like this!”

“You don’t look like you’re about to jump off a cliff, right now,” Daichi pointed out patiently, but Oikawa could tell he meant it — had he really looked that low on that first day? “Well, you look like you’re considering jumping into that fire, but that’s different,” he joked, and Oikawa nudged his shoulder to shush him.

Silence enveloped them again when the prince slid closer to the knight, until he could lean against him and rest his head on Daichi’s shoulder.

“How far are we from the castle, now?” he asked in a whisper, his voice so full of melancholy that Daichi couldn’t stop himself from brushing his knuckles against Oikawa’s.

When had he picked up that habit, he couldn’t tell, but it felt so natural, as if he had always done it.

“I’d say there are around ten days left if we keep this rhythm. Maybe more if we stop by a village to get some food.” The knight’s gaze left the flames to linger on Oikawa’s face, trying to read the prince’s reaction. “Are you nervous?”

Oikawa nodded against his shoulder, nuzzling his face against Daichi. The knight’s heart skipped a beat when he realised how close Oikawa was. His warmth seeped into Daichi’s clothes more effectively than the heat from the fire that was roaring in front of them, and he found himself thinking about how much longer he wanted it to last. One night was too short. Ten days were too short.

“Hm, Sawamura?” the other called without taking his gaze off the spot he was staring dazedly at. “Once you’ve brought us back to the castle, what will you do next?”

Exactly where it hurt, it was as if Oikawa could read his thoughts.

“I don’t know,” Daichi admitted with a slight shrug, careful not to dislodge the other. “I’m an independent knight so I’ll probably go looking for another quest. Or at least, that’s what I had been intending to do.”

At this, Oikawa tilted his chin up to look at him. He scanned Daichi’s face, searching for an answer to a silent question that only he knew, and it seemed to the knight that Oikawa was leaning closer to him when he spoke again.

“And what do you intend to do, _now_?” he asked in a breath.

Daichi ostensibly turned toward the other and in spite of all his good will, his breath caught in his throat. He lost himself in those chocolate eyes that didn’t leave his, half-lidded and demanding, and he nearly drowned. Daichi wanted to feel these eyelashes brush his cheekbones; he wanted to know how soft Oikawa’s skin could be, wanted to know what those delicate lips tasted like.

His heart picked up its pace, hammering against his ribcage like an animal trying to break free, and Daichi stammered, his mind unable to grasp a thought, even less a word.

“I thought… maybe… I’d stay by your side… as a knight… if you would allow me.”

The prince hummed a vague response and brushed the edge of Daichi’s jaw with the pad of his thumb.

“Sawamura,” Oikawa pronounced, as if tasting the name.

“Daichi,” the other gulped. “Call me Daichi.”

The prince grinned smugly. The knight placed a shaky hand on the small of his back, and finally, for a divine instant, Oikawa touched his lips to Daichi’s. He slid his hands to the knight’s shoulders, slowly pulling him closer until he could wrap his arms around him. His teeth grazed Daichi’s bottom lip and Daichi was sure he heard Oikawa laugh when he jumped in surprise.

It wasn’t Daichi’s first kiss — oh no, it wasn’t — but it eclipsed all the stars in the sky and the fire beside them.

Oikawa’s eyes were playful when he pulled back, and he sat back into his initial position, away from Daichi, leaving only the too cold air to caress the knight’s skin where Oikawa had been pressed against him half a second before.

Branches cracked in the woods behind them and Iwaizumi emerged from the forest the next moment, his arms so full that he could barely see his feet. He dropped everything to the ground and let out a satisfied breath.

“Nice job, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa declared, stretching his arms over his head. “Now let’s put some more wood in there and take a rest! Who takes the first watch?”

“I will,” Daichi said through his daze, puzzled by how easily Oikawa had switched from kissing him to acting like his usual self again.

“Alright!” the prince continued cheerfully.

He stood up, stretched once more — maybe a bit too close to Daichi’s face for the knight not to blush at the sight of his royal rear end — and walked to the other side of the fire to find himself a comfortable place to lie down.

“Goodnight, Iwa-chan, Dai-chan!” he called as he wrapped a cape around him.

The knight tensed up at the sudden nickname. He turned slowly to Iwaizumi who raised an amused eyebrow at him, and Daichi’s face took an even deeper shade of red.

* * *

After that night, it seemed that Oikawa had found a pretty effective way to distract himself from his growing nervousness. He sneaked closer to the knight every night, to the point he wasn’t even being discrete any more, shamelessly brushing the other’s knee or arm in the middle of a meal and resting his head on Daichi’s shoulder in front of a clearly amused Iwaizumi.

“You know, I’m glad you found him,” the guard once told Daichi open-heartedly while they were on the road. “If not for you I’d probably have spent my whole life stuck with him in that tower,” he had then teased his friend.

Daichi knew that the first part had been genuine, though. The fondness in Iwaizumi’s eyes wasn’t something he could lie about.

The castle was in sight when Oikawa declared that they should set up camp on the last night of their journey. Surprisingly, Iwaizumi didn’t protest in spite of the fact they would have reached the castle before midnight, had they kept on walking. Daichi didn’t oppose either, but only because it felt like the end of something.

He knew that he had been serious when he had told Oikawa he wanted to stay as a knight to his service, but he also knew that whatever would happen within the castle would probably be different from the proximity they had shared on their journey. They were still free, with nobody to tell them what to do or how to act, and the three of them wanted one last moment of peace before they stepped into the castle and sat Oikawa on the throne.

“Dai-chan, do you want to go on a walk with me?” Oikawa called, bringing the knight back to reality.

The latter flicked a look at Iwaizumi who motioned for him to follow Oikawa.

“You can go, I’m nearly done here.”

And so, off they went, into the woods. The sun was just beginning to set, exactly like on the night they had first met; the light played in the foliage and in Oikawa’s hair as they walked. Soon, the air grew colder and darkness covered the forest like a blanket pulled over the world.

The first star twinkled in the sky and Daichi pulled on Oikawa’s hand to get his attention.

“You’re not planning to run away, right?”

A glimmer of playfulness sparkled in the prince’s eyes.

“It would be very romantic of me, but sadly, the answer is no.”

“Then why are you taking me so far from the camp?”

With another smirk, Oikawa narrowed his eyes, tilting his head back to take a good look at the knight.

“Perhaps I just wanted to be alone with you in the dark,” he crooned, his voice so full of insituation that Daichi burst out laughing. “What? Why are you laughing?” the prince huffed, his expression turning into an exaggerated pout.

“Nothing. I just think you’re pretty forward,” Daichi laughed again, his heart light and his smile soft.

Oikawa’s feigned offense shattered at the sight and he cracked a grin at the other before he dragged him farther away.

“All jokes aside, this is where I wanted to take you,” he declared after a few more minutes. “I often played here before I ran away.”

He stepped aside, letting his fingers slide off Daichi’s hand and a slight frown settled on the knight’s forehead at the loss, causing Oikawa to chuckle. The sound of his laughter immediately made Daichi forget his frustration.

In front of him, the night sky was reflected upon the surface of a huge lake circled by the forest, like a secret portal to another world. Beside Daichi, Oikawa took his clothes off without hesitation. He strode into the water confidently, even though it was probably freezing, and turned to grin at the knight as soon as it reached his hips.

“So, what are you waiting for?” the prince lilted, drifting farther and farther away into the depth of the lake.

Daichi didn’t reply; he was too dumbfounded to. Only Oikawa’s movements broke the silk-like surface of the water. The moon shone down shyly upon them, as if trying to keep their presence a secret. Its silvery light made the prince’s skin stand out, so pale against the water, and in this puddle of darkness, it looked like Oikawa was swimming among the stars.

It took Daichi’s breath away.

“Come on, are you gonna let me catch a cold in here all alone?” Oikawa tempted him again, his laugh like a cascade of feys trying to pull him into the abyss.

Daichi would gladly let himself drown in the sound of it.

He looked over his shoulder one last time —“Iwa-chan won’t come this way, he knows what’s up,” Oikawa assured— and then back at the man floating lazily at the surface, his gaze shamelessly undressing Daichi.

Shrugging the remaining shreds of embarrassment off, Daichi took his clothes off and swam away in the night sky.

It was only hours later that they reached the camp again. The fire was snoring softly, half burning but it didn’t matter, they were so close to the castle that nothing could happen to them. Iwaizumi was sound asleep on his side and Oikawa used the relative intimacy to pull Daichi down with him. They lay on the opposite side of the fire from the guard, hidden by the flames, and Oikawa rested his head on the other’s chest, savoring the freshness of his skin and the warmth of the fire on his back.

He was about to fall asleep when a voice rose from the other side.

“I still think you should check for leeches.”

As it turned out, Iwaizumi wasn’t asleep at all.

* * *

They stood in front of the castle in religious silence, the three of them looking up at the blue-stoned fortress like it marked the beginning of a new era. The wind was catching in white flags far above their heads, and Daichi realised that these would soon become his new colors — white and blue, instead of his black knight armour.

“So, we’re back,” Oikawa stated, glancing at his best friend like he was waiting for his reaction.

The other nodded slowly, carefully watching Oikawa’s face, and the prince’s gaze settled once more on the door. Hesitation was written all over his face, and his chest was pulsing visibly with the intensity of his heartbeat.

A hand pushed him in the back, gentle but firm, and Iwaizumi sent Oikawa a reassuring grin. At the other side of the prince, Daichi squeezed his shoulder, his faithful gaze grounding him more than his touch.

Oikawa would make a great king. He already had the best royal advisor and the most dedicated knight at his side, after all. With these two standing on each side of his throne, he knew that things would be okay.

Oikawa took in a deep breath and pushed the main doors of Blue Castle. The prince was ready to claim his crown.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this as much as I loved writing it! It was weird at first to write another ship than IwaOi, but the challenge was realy nice!
> 
> Find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AngstWeaver)!


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